India Production of Suzuki to Surpass Japan

Chandrasekhar Atreya
06 Sep, 2010
New York City

The benchmark index in India soared 1.8% tracking gains in international markets. Maruti Suzuki plans to expand production in India as the domestic market continues to expand. Tamil Nadu based temple plans to insure its gold reserves for $11 billion. Birla Group plans to double alumina capacity.

[R]5:00 PM Mumbai – The benchmark index in India soared 1.8% tracking gains in international markets. Maruti Suzuki plans to expand production in India as the domestic market continues to expand. Tamil Nadu based temple plans to insure its gold reserves for $11 billion. Birla group plans to double its alumina capacity in Orissa.[/R]

Indian stocks rallied to push the benchmark index to the highs last seen in February 2008. A rally in Asian markets tracking gains in New York after U.S. private sector added more than expected jobs in August.

The Sensex Index gained 1.86% or 338.62 to close at 18,560.05. The CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange increased 1.8% to 5,580.25.

India’s loss making state-owned National Textile Corp raised its estimates for proceeds from land sales after it sold its properties in August for double the reserve price.

The company now expects to raise at least Rs 9,000 crore from land sales in Mumbai. Land sales across India could be another Rs 10,000 crore in the year till March 31, NTC Chairman K. Ramachandran Pillai said in an interview in Mumbai on September 3.

Suzuki Motor Corp, Japan’s second-largest mini-car maker, said it will build a new factory in India after car sales in the country jumped more than 30% this year.

The plant in Manesar, near Delhi, will have a capacity of 250,000 units and will begin production by mid 2013, said Hideki Taguchi, a spokesman of the company in Tokyo.

With the addition of new capacity, Suzuki will make more cars in India surpassing its 1.7 million unit production in Japan.

The value of worldly possessions of Lord Venkateshwara in Tirumala has been assessed at Rs 100,000 crore, and the onus of protecting his assets rests with the trust manning his abode.

To protect this asset the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam board decided to buy insurance cover on the jewelry of the Lord valued at around Rs 52,000 crore. The decision will throw open the country’s biggest gold insurance market. “No single insurance company can underwrite such a risk on its own books, and so we are looking at partnering a state-owned general insurance firm for insuring these assets,” said a senior official of the board.

Pipe manufacturer Welspun Corporation said it has bagged orders worth Rs 700 crore from domestic and international markets. The company is likely to execute the new orders of about 120,000 tons in the current financial year, the company said in its filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd plans to invest Rs 1,800 crore to set up 11 hospitals in the country over the next two years, a top official said Thursday last.

“Right now our focus would be India, where 90% of our capital would be utilized,” said Preetha Reddy, Managing Director, while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

The Aditya Birla group said it will double capacity at its alumina unit in Orissa after receiving environmental clearance, stealing a march over rival Vedanta Resources that was recently forced to halt a similar expansion by the government.

“We went to the environment ministry for an approval for the expansion and we got it,” Debu Bhattacharya, Managing Director of group flagship co Hindalco Industries told Economic Times Saturday.

India’s textile and apparel industry is expected to grow from Rs 327,000 crore to Rs 1,032,000 crore by 2020, according to a research report by Technopak Advisors, a leading management consultancy.

Kingfisher Airlines and British Airways on Saturday announced the launch of code sharing between the two air carriers from September 15. Under the code sharing agreement, British Airways code will placed on 11 domestic routes and one international route to Sri Lanka operated by Kingfisher, while the code of Kingfisher will be placed on nine British Airways routes from Heathrow to the U.K. cities and continental Europe.

India will soon undertake negotiations to discuss the possibility of expanding an agreement on tariffs with South American bloc Mercosur, comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, in November.

“Teams from both sides have been meeting and pledged to develop a list of new products to be included in the agreement in November this year,” visiting Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotirditya Scindia said during the India-Brazil business meeting in Sao Paulo on Friday.

The Indian government Friday announced that it would allow export of 5500,000 bales of cotton effective October 1 and would revisit the policy for a thorough review in mid-November indicating that shipments beyond this ceiling would attract export duty.

IDBI Bank plans to raise $1 billion if foreign currency in the next 12 to 15 months, a top official of the bank said.

“Recently we raised $350 million. There is a huge appetite for our papers. We intend to raise $1 billion in 12 to 15 months,” Chairman and Managing Director R.M. Malla said.

Gainers & Losers

Action Construction Equipment Limited 1.1% to Rs 69.65 after the hydraulic mobile cranes maker board decided to make a preferential allotment of 30 lakh equity shares to Reliance Capital.

Apollo Tyres Ltd. soared 6.5% to Rs 87.10 after the strong auto sales in August.

BEML Limited surged 5.3% to Rs 1,195.30 after the rail coach maker signed a memorandum of understanding with Mineral Exploration Corporation controlled by India for participating in coal & metal mining projects.

Bajaj Auto Ltd. soared 5% to Rs 3,016.15 on record sales in August.

Confidence Petroleum India Limited spurted 4.9% to Rs 15.72 after the liquefied petroleum gas distributor commenced commercial operation of its 51st LPG dispensing station at Chamrajpeth in Bangalore.

EIH Associated Hotels Limited soared 6.7% to Rs 246.40 after the hotel operator anticipated consolidation in the sector.

Force Motors Limited gained 6.4% to Rs 625.80 after the automobile company may spend about Rs 2,000 crore in expansion.

Gujarat Gas Company Limited soared 10.2% to Rs 389.00 after the natural gas distributor hiked compressed natural gas prices by 8% or Rs 2.49 per kilogram.

GTL Infrastructure Limited rose 0.4% to Rs 45.40 after the telecom tower operator and Reliance Communications are not likely to merge their tower network operations.

Gillanders Arbuthnot & Company Limited gained 2.5% to Rs 169.10 after the diversified company set September 15 record date for issue of 1-to-2 bonus shares.

Hindalco Industries Limited increased 4.7% to Rs 178.55 after the aluminum and copper maker plans capital expenditure of Rs 40,000 crore over the next five years.

JVL Agro Industries Limited gained 2.7% to Rs 412.85 after the vanaspati and refined oil board of directors of the company recommended a 10-for-1 stock split.

Kingfisher Airlines Limited soared 8.8% to Rs 69.00 after the airline has signed a code sharing agreement with British Airways that will give it access to smaller UK cities and two more destinations in Europe.

Opto Circuits (India) Ltd. rose 0.9% to Rs 282.20 after the medical equipment company''s US subsidiary received preliminary approval for one of its devices.


Reliance Power Limited rose 1.4% to Rs 158.70 after the power generator looks for way to restructure subsidiaries and other family controlled companies.

Sujana Towers Limited surged 5.1% to Rs 70.40 after the galvanized steel towers maker secured three orders aggregating Rs 148.38 crore for manufacturing and supply of 400 kilovolt transmission line towers.

Shreyas Shipping & Logistics Limited soared 5.1% to Rs 41.85 after the Baltic dry index, which tracks freight rate gained 1.45% to 2,876 in London on September 3.

Tata Steel Limited gained 6.6% to Rs 575.60 on the expectations of better economic outlook in the U.S. and China.

Tata Motors Limited increased 1.7% to Rs 1,034.75 after the automobile company’s American depository receipts rose 1.07% to $22.68 on the New York Stock Exchange on September 3.

TVS Motor Company Limited rose 2.2% to Rs 148.25 ahead of the record date for 1-to-1 bonus issue.

Unity Infraprojects Limited gained 2.2% to Rs 117.20 after the construction company secured an order worth Rs 74.54 crore from Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, Mumbai for construction of a hostel.

Uflex Limited increased 3.8% to Rs 178.95 after the packaging company''s step down subsidiary Flex P. Films (Egypt) S.A,E., Egypt started first phase of production for the manufacture of 35,000 ton per annum of polypropylene film.

Wipro Limited rose 0.8% to Rs 404.65 after the information technology company''s American depository receipt increased 3.44% to $13.54 on the New York Stock Exchange on September 3.